Chapter 809: Immortal Ancient Dao Meridian! (1/2)

Chapter 809: Immortal Ancient Dao Meridian!

Time passed. During the nights, Meng Hao closely observed the projections in the temple. Upon deeper examination, it became clear that all of them were different from each other. There were men and women, old people and young. Some of the figures weren’t even human, but were strange and beast-like.

After the passage of so much time, Meng Hao had long since lost any sense of fear toward the place. He was also used to all the bizarre scenes that played out. Every day at nightfall, the black strands of hair would emerge from the well. Eventually, Meng Hao found that sitting cross-legged in the hair would fill his body with an incredible coldness that benefited his attempts to gain enlightenment from the figures passing down their Daos.

As for the weeping which came from within the well, after listening to it for some time, Meng Hao realized that there was a bit of charm within the wails….

Then there was the vine swing. Meng Hao had the feeling that some great Dao existed within the swinging motion. An image appeared in his mind of a swing, swaying endlessly back and forth.

Meng Hao even got used to the voices calling out about “going home.” Occasionally he would impulsively stamp his feet on the ground in annoyance when the voices disturbed his cultivation.

Essentially, he got used to everything that went on in the temple. That included the old man with blood oozing from his orifices. Whenever Meng Hao sought enlightenment, the old man would stand behind him and look at the top of his head.

After a while, he simply allowed the man to continue to do so.

Meng Hao changed his clothes several times, but no matter how new they were, whenever he awoke after having sunk into enlightenment, the clothes would be tattered and old. Finally, he gave up and stopped changing them.

Recently, Meng Hao had been observing one particular figure who sat cross-legged in meditation. However, powerful ripples emanated off of the figure’s body. After observing for quite some time, the air in front of Meng Hao grew blurry, and a black roc appeared that emanated a savage energy.

“This is a Daoist Magic form!”

It made Meng Hao think of his battle with the Northern Reaches’ Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief, and the bizarre divine ability he’d used to transform into various wild beasts. In Meng Hao’s opinion, it had been completely extraordinary.

He continued his contemplation, losing himself to it. It was as if he actually returned to that ancient Daoist rites temple to hear the music of the great Dao. He awoke when the sky turned bright, having been significantly enlightened.

Everything in the temple returned to normal around him. Meng Hao could sense that he had made great strides in terms of his cultivation base. His personal Dao Seeking did not contain discrete stages. According to what his father told him, the result of using the Mist Blade to perform his Severing turned his Dao Seeking into a single stage and put him at the very peak of the entire Spirit Realm.

His next step would be true Immortality.

To Meng Hao, the imparting of these strange Daos was incredibly suitable to his current situation. After working with the Daoist magic of Roc Transformation, he proceeded on to another Dao Projection after gaining some enlightenment.

Unfortunately, he could not gain enlightenment regarding all of the Dao Projections. Many were in conflict with his personal direction, which made it impossible for him to understand them.

Meng Hao was now watching a Dao Projection near the wall of the temple. The image that flickered in his eyes was that of a man floating in a clear sky. The man’s hand formed into the shape of a claw, which he stretched out, causing the land beneath him to shatter into pieces.

“It’s a claw attack method!”

Meng Hao’s consciousness trembled as he imprinted the image into his mind.

A few days later, Meng Hao had just gained enlightenment regarding another Dao Projection when he saw a Daoist off in the distance stretching his hand out and grabbing onto a star. He then pulled down violently, causing the star to tremble and transform into a resplendent glow in the palm of his hand.

“That’s… a… magic of Star Plucking!”

Meng Hao immersed himself in gaining enlightenment from the Daoist legacies in the temple. Eventually, he realized that the flame in the bronze oil lamp was showing signs of flickering out. He could tell that when that happened, the good fortune in this particular Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite Temple would be over.

Several days later, Meng Hao took a deep breath as he woke from meditation. By this point, he had identified all of the Daoist Projections that he could gain enlightenment from; unfortunately they were quite miscellaneous. There were only three that Meng Hao truly had a basic understanding of.

The Claw Attack, the Roc Transformation, and the Star Plucking Magic.

However, these were just types of magic, not Daos.

“There are millions upon millions of magics, but the Dao can only exist in the heart. Where exactly is… the Dao of this Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite Temple?” Meng Hao looked around until his gaze finally came to rest on the dilapidated statue of the deity.

Finally, he stood and approached the deity. After sitting down cross-legged, he looked up at the broken statue.

The deity statue was more than half destroyed. It had no head, and its torso was half gone. It was only possible to tell that it was sitting cross-legged, with its right hand extended to form an incantation gesture.

Meng Hao could make the same gesture, but when he did, he got no special feeling at all from the statue.

Feeling a bit annoyed, he turned to the old man behind him and said, “You’ve been following me around for half a month already. Is my head that interesting to stare at?”

Looking at the man, Meng Hao didn’t think he looked fierce or frightening at all any more, just dull and lifeless. “You’re formed from the shadow cast by the fire of that oil lamp. Don’t tell me you’ve been watching me this half-month for no reason at all?”

“Immortal!” the old man suddenly said, his voice hoarse and scratchy.

Meng Hao’s eyes widened. This was the first time the old man had spoken in the entire half month.

“What did you just say?”

“Immortal!” repeated the old man. “This statue is an Immortal!”

Meng Hao gaped.

“Do you wish to become Immortal?” the old man blurted. His eyes glowed with a strange light as he stared at Meng Hao.

Meng Hao was now starting to once again feel that this old man was very strange. His eyes narrowed slightly as he said, “I only have half a step to take and I’ll be a true Immortal.”

“How could Immortal be split between true and false…? That’s an incorrect path.” The old man shook his head, and from the look in his eyes, he seemed to be recalling the past. Then he murmured: “An incorrect path…. Has the legacy been cut off…? Too many years have passed since that war….”

All of a sudden the old man started laughing crazily. “They’re all dead! The land is shattered! The river of stars is cut off….” The man continued to laugh, then started to pace back and forth in the temple, weeping.

“Cut off! I can’t suppress the living, I can only suppress the ghosts….